The Total TxtMsg Dictionary, compiled and edited by Andrew John with Stephen Blake

reviewed by Stephen Blake

Mobile phones are everywhere ... More and more of us have got one ... And texting is becoming the language of the 21st century – or so all the hype would have us believe. No doubt time will tell, but for the moment, at least, in this so-called communication age, computers, the Internet, mobile phones and text messaging (millions are sent every day) have become an increasingly dominant part of our lives.

Earlier this year, I was thrown headlong into this New WAP World when I was asked by a close friend if I was up for helping compile a text-messaging dictionary. Always eager to share my knowledge with others, I jumped at the chance!

Eight weeks later – having driven everyone around me almost potty with text speak – I presented my friend with several thousand text messages and emoticons for inclusion in his book: the result of which is the recently published The Total TxtMsg Dictionary, which is – as the cover blurb puts it – “the world’s first comprehensive directory of text-messaging terms, acronyms, abbreviations and definitions”. Readers of G&LH may be pleased to see that among the many abbreviations and acronyms in the book are BHA, GALHA, NSS and PTT.

If you’ve never sent a text message before, now’s the time to give it a go. It’s very simple: mobile-phone screens are small, allowing you a limited number of characters for each message, therefore, you need to abbreviate words as much as possible. There aren’t any rules as such, but to make things easier it’s a good idea to keep to the following ...

So, next time you’re in London for one of Derek Lennard’s world-famous Conway Hall evenings, instead of phoning to tell the boyf: “I’m happy to be with Gay and Lesbian Humanist at the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association’s meeting about a talk on the National Secular Society, Pink Triangle Trust and British Humanist Association” you’ll be able to text him with :